


I won't hurt you, I only hurt myself.

by October_Moon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Asexual Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Fluff, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nurse Lance (Voltron), Professor Coran (Voltron), Self-Esteem Issues, Touch Aversion, Touch-Starved, Wings, others might show up but not for long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-08-02 09:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16302125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/October_Moon/pseuds/October_Moon
Summary: College and wings and danger, oh my!Keith didn't think it'd be dangerous. Sure, Pidge's robot had been blown up, but that was probably a prank or someone trying to get her in trouble. No one had even gotten hurt! They all thought it'd be a fun little adventure, a mystery they could solve of 'who blew up Rover' so they wouldn't go crazy under the pressures of life. None of them thought it'd be dangerous.They were wrong._____Lance was worried about Pidge. Her robot had blown up, literally exploded! Lance could never tell her, but it had hurt. It had left him with big, jagged scars. It wasn't something to dismiss. He had no idea just how dangerous things could get.Maybe he should have left things alone.____Or- A wings/college/danger/personal problems AU because why pick one when you can have them all?They have tattooed wings that move like real ones.They're in college.Someone is doin' dangerous stuff.Keith was abused as a child and is scared of touch.Lance has constantly been told he's both too much and not enough.





	1. The Voltron Coalition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, to make sure you get it- Everyone has wings that are tattooed on their backs, ingrained in their skin. They move like real wings based on emotions. They can be controlled but it's really hard to. They can be any kind of wings, fantasy, birds, whatever.
> 
> Also, this chapter is almost only set-up for the rest. I sat down to write and this accidentally happened. It gets better, I promise, and I already have more written, it's just in the editing stage.
> 
> Here we go.

When Shiro got into College Keith had been happy for him, really, but he hadn't been excited like Shiro seemed to think he should be.

 

“It’s The Voltron Coalition, Keith! How can you not be freaking out right now?!”

 

Keith shrugged, arms already crossed, small frown on his face that he kept trying to replace with a smile. The frown kept coming back.

 

Shiro had put his hand on Keith’s shoulder. He gave him that look, that smile that said he understood. He sighed but the smile stayed, the excitement bubbling just under the surface. Keith could tell because his wings fluttered across the skin of his arms, the black of them flashing in and out of sight from under his vest and giving him away.

 

He could tell without the wings showing him, of course, but the wings were good confirmation. Shiro never had been very good at controlling them.

 

“Keith, this isn’t goodbye. You can still visit me,” he said softly. His eyes lit up. “Plus, you can apply in five years! I've been thinking about it, Keith, and I really think you'll like it there!”

 

Keith had snorted, of course, because him? In college? Right. That sounded like the path his life was headed down. He said as much to Shiro. “And what would I even go for? What does the ‘Voltron Coalition’ or whatever even specialize in?”

 

Shiro’s eyes had widened at that, mouth dropping open just a little. “Oh. You don’t know? I thought I sent you a link...?” He groaned, a chuckle escaping him despite his trying to be serious. “But, then again, you’re Keith. And why would Keith look at a video of a college?” He stuck his hand out and ruffled Keith’s hair, an action Keith only allowed since he was suddenly very afraid he’d never feel it again.

 

Keith only scowled. His emotions were going haywire at the news. He was happy for him, really, but he was more sad for himself, and betrayed, and worried, and- Well. To be honest, his stomach was currently suffering from an earthquake and a tornado at the same time. He was lucky he’d been controlling his wings since he was seven.

 

A video was suddenly being shoved in his face and he took the phone just to keep from going cross eyed.

 

_“Welcome to The Voltron Coatition, TVC, or, to the students who attend, Voltron University.”_

 

The narrator had a sweet voice, much less fake and grating than the other voices he’d heard as Shiro researched different colleges while Keith finished his homework. She actually sounded like she genuinely liked the school and was proud to be presenting it.

 

The logo of the school, a large white V and a colorful pride of lions, faded in on the screen against a background of bright green grass and dark green pine trees.

 

_“The school itself is made up of five departments which students can choose up to two to learn from. Their departments include programs in Space, Programming, Engineering, Medical, and Athletics.”_

 

The Voltron logo faded out, the screen changing from a drizzly Seattle forest scene to the sight of a huge, modern, but strangely military, building. It was sleek and white with strips of light streaking down the sides. Multiple terraces ran along one side, students sitting at tables barely possible to make out.

 

_“The Space Department, housed in the building titled ‘The Garrison’, sports the team mascot of the Black Lion. There you can learn everything the earth knows about space and how to navigate it. While every Department gives each student rudimentary training in piloting, the Space program places special emphasis on it, even giving the top ten students in each year a shot at boarding the Garrison’s yearly trip around the moon.”_

 

The pictures changed fast, moving from hallways to dorms to classrooms inside the Garrison. Most of the staff looked stiff and extremely militaristic. The students stood tall and proud like they had achieved something not many could hope to reach. Keith thought they probably had. It almost lit a desire in him he hadn’t felt in a while, a desire to succeed. Almost. The final picture featured a fighter jet with a spaceship far off in the distance behind it.

 

_“The Programming Department, housed in the stunning Senfama building, hosts the team mascot of the Green Lion. They can teach you all you need to know about the programming of anything you can think of. They proudly assert their openness to new coding strategies and their drive to bring those strategies to the world. Their best of the best are commonly offered jobs in NASA, worldwide governments, and even The Voltron Coalition itself.”_

 

The screen featured a huge building that resembled a tall, upside down pyramid covered in glass that glinted emerald green in the light. The image shifted, showing the interior of the massive building. The staff were wildly different from the staff of the Garrison, wildly different even from each other. While the militaristic Garrison staff wore matching uniforms, the staff of Senfama varied from average American to a tiny Asian woman to what Keith was pretty sure was an actual LARPer, fully decked out in a cape and a matching shield and sword set.

 

_“The Engineering Department, housed in the strange and wonderful Free Olkarion, is home to the Yellow Lion mascot. There they can show you how to take apart and put together even the most complicated of machinery and why each piece goes the way it goes. They hope for each of their students to leave their classrooms with brand new inventions in tow and, in fact, even go as far as financially supporting and promoting the best inventions in each year!”_

 

Free Olkarion really was strange and wonderful. The building was a dome, swirling oranges and yellows painted across the majority of the surface. It was almost entirely surrounded by huge reddish stone, jagged like a nature made mountain peak. It was like a whole other planet. The pictures featuring staff and students weren’t quite as jarringly odd as the ones taken in the Programming Department but they showed a wide range of people just the same. Each one looked friendly and excited to be there.

 

_“The Medical Department, housed in grand Castle Altea, is the loving protector of their mascot, the Blue Lion. With a world class Medical staff, they boast the highest rates of S-rank doctors, surgeons, and nurses of any other college or hospital in the world. The sick and injured come from around the world to be treated by the staff but, with minds as bright and hands as steady as these, they have been known to pay top dollar for treatment by even the students of this Department.”_

 

Keith’s jaw actually dropped at the sight of Castle Altea. It was amazing, incredible, unlike anything he’d ever seen. Its shape reminded him of a ship standing straight up, four smaller buildings surrounding the larger middle building, all of it connected via tunnels under the ground. The outer sides of the outlying buildings were glowing in the pictures taken at night. He could definitely see why someone would want to be treated there over any other hospital, amazing staff or not.

 

_“Last but not least, the Athletics Department, housed in the compound known as the Blade of Marmora, entertains the mascot the Red Lion. While the Department does have sports teams for the purpose of competing, most of their focus is set on combative training. Almost every weapon under our sun has a place here and almost every top weapons expert has trained and/or been trained here.”_

 

The compound was beautiful in a gently threatening kind of way. It was entirely enclosed in a transparent, slightly wavy energy-blue fence, probably 20 feet high. The ground inside was all black, probably that weird slightly plush material schools sometimes put on their playgrounds instead of wood chips. The buildings were pretty standard but it hardly mattered. The staff and students stood tall and proud, similar to the staff of the Garrison but with more fierce determination and emotion in their faces.

 

Keith was officially sold.

 

He wanted in. The Space program had sounded alluring but the Athletics Department pushed it all over the edge. The video had said students could pick out two Departments to study in, right? He had to go here. He was ready to pack his bags now, waiting till he was 18 be damned.

 

_“They all work together to support each other and to support the mission of the school; to someday make peaceful contact and build strong connections to other life forms. While some may find a college’s belief in intelligent alien life forms strange, rest assured that the college’s professors and teaching methods have been carefully picked to build a strong and polished educative system. Their students are well known to be the best and brightest of the times and they are confident they will continue to be so.”_

 

The video ended with an aerial video of the entire college. Each Department clashed with the others, each one so enormously different that Keith wondered for a moment how they’d come to be just one college before the thought slipped away. The Seattle Public Library sat in the middle of them, it’s odd angles catching the light of the sun perfectly and turning the screen white. The logo appeared and faded out and the video was over.

 

His wings, usually so under control, gave a few strong flaps, the tips of his feathers appearing on his arms before brushing back into his shirt and hanging on his back. Shiro raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic show of excitement but Keith didn’t care. His wings could go to town on his emotions for now, his thoughts were too scrambled to put any concentration into restraining them.

 

He had no idea what showed on his face but it must have been extreme because Shiro was grinning widely at him now. “See,” he said, rubbing at Keith’s hair again. “It’s the toughest school to get into in the world because almost everyone with an ounce of talent applies but I think you can do it. I believe in you Keith. In five years you’ll be finishing up high school. I think if you really apply yourself you can be ready by then. You just need to remember that patience yields focus.”

 

Keith snapped back to himself. “Five years…,” he muttered, mostly to himself. He crossed his arms again, glowering down at his feet. That feeling was coming back now, the twisting in his stomach. Shiro was leaving him just like everyone else.

 

“Hey.” Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, a comforting weight. “I know it’s a long time to be away but I swear to you that we’ll keep in touch. Whatever foster family you end up in, I’ll keep track. We’ll skype whenever you want and I’ll get you a ticket up to me every Christmas.”

 

Doubt crept up in him like black shadows, malicious, even against the person he trusted most in the world, the only person he trusted. “How?” The question was heavy on his tongue. Shiro was almost as alone in the world as Keith and he was going to college in another state with not a lot of savings to begin with. He couldn’t see how he’d be affording round-trip plane tickets once a year.

 

“I’m not sure but I’ll make it work. I got a few really good scholarships, Keith. Really good. The coursework will be a lot but I’m sure I can get a job. I hear Seattle is covered in Starbucks.” His attempt at a joke almost gets a smile out of Keith but he’s famously immune to humor and he’ll be damned if he can’t keep up that image, even to his not-really-brother.

 

The doubt is still there, poisonous in his mind, but he pushes it back as best he can. He wants to believe this. He wants Shiro to be happy and he wants to go to this school and he wants to visit him in Seattle every Christmas. He musters up a slightly watery smile. “Okay,” he says, and he almost means it.

 

***********

 

Shiro is all packed. His apartment is empty, the boxes of things he’s taking with him already loaded into the van that’ll ship it all to his dorm in the Garrison. What’s left is junk and furniture that won’t fit in his new room.

 

Keith shuffles slowly toward the front door. Shiro had already gone out to put his backpack in his car, the car he’d already sold and will be handing over at the airport.

 

His hand brushes along the edge of the couch, the one he’d spent most nights of the last three years sleeping on despite whatever foster home the system said he was meant to be in. He stops when he sees the card on the table, the one that says “Happy Birthday, Grandpa!” on the outside and has a handwritten message inside from Keith, teasing Shiro for being an old man at the ripe young age of 20. He’d given it to him just a few months ago, days before Shiro had been accepted to The Voltron Coalition. It was the only card he’d given to anyone since he was seven and his dad was still alive.

 

He can feel the prickle behind his eyes fighting to turn into big fat tears but he doesn’t want Shiro’s last look at him in person to be wet and red and splotchy.

 

Shiro comes back in then, rushing a little since his plane is leaving in two hours and navigating an airport isn’t exactly easy even without the traffic stopping him from getting there in the first place. “Oh, good, you found the card!” He plucks it out of Keith’s hands and tucks it into the inner pocket of his black vest. “That was the last thing I needed to grab besides a last hug from you.”

 

Well, Keith tried. The tears finally spill out, wings wrapping themselves firmly under his arms and around his ribs, a common defensive position for his type. He shoves himself forward roughly, arms wrapping around Shiro’s middle and face tucking into the fabric of his vest right over the card. His shoulders are shaking but his crying is silent, a skill he’d learned in the foster system. Shiro’s pats and reassurances only make his silent sobs stronger.

 

“Keith, it’s okay. I love you. I’ll call you as soon as I get there.” He pauses, hand rubbing circles on Keith’s back. “I’ll always be your big brother whether I’m in the Big Brother Program or not. We’ll be together again.”

 

Keith takes a deep, shuddering breath before unsticking his face from the wet fabric. “Five years,” he says, voice shaky but determined.

 

“Five years.”

 

“And every Christmas before then?”

 

“Every single one.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“Promise.”

 

Keith tries really hard and he almost believes him.

 

********

 

When he finally finds his one lone suitcase, the only luggage he needed, and tugs it outside, he’s relieved but not surprised to find Shiro waiting for him at the front of the crowd.

 

“There he is,” he says to no one in particular. “My little graduate! I’m so proud of you!” He wipes a non-existent tear from his eyes and laughs at Keith’s scrunched up, annoyed but also pleased, expression. Shiro turns to the swarm of people still flooding from the doors behind him and shouts “This is my brother! He got into Voltron University!”

 

“Shiro! Oh my gods, what are you doing,” he hisses, pulling him towards the parked line of Car-2-gos.

 

Shiro just laughs. He leans over, ruffling Keith’s raven hair into a mess, just like he had done at every Christmas when he’d gotten Keith roundtrip tickets just like he’d promised. “I’m bragging! Isn’t a brother allowed to brag when his kid sibling gets into the best college in the world?”

 

“Not to a crowd of strangers.”

 

He laughs again, moving to the drivers side of the two person smart car. “Alright, I’ll stop. For now.”

 

And despite his embarrassment and his nerves and his determination to not encourage his brothers antics, he smiles. He’s finally here with a one way ticket and his own room in the Blade of Marmora compound and his brother a block away. For once, just this once, life is good.

 

Keith is happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, sorry, I told you it was mostly set-up. Don't worry, more comes out soon. Next chapter is where most of the rest of the gang shows up and some plot starts to form.
> 
> Also, I'd be psyched to hear from you! Let me know if I'm messing up or anything! I mean, don't like, roast me or anything. But if you notice inconsistencies or mistakes (even spelling mistakes, I hate those and I will fix them if you spot one) or whatever then let me know! I'd love some feedback.
> 
> I'm also open to suggestions, especially if it's things you want to see happen regarding the wings because right now I'm not sure what to do with them. So far they don't really have any impact on the plot, they're just sort of a thing that exists, so if you've got any ideas then just run em by me. Especially fluff ideas. I can't wait to write fluff.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you stick around! See ya next chapter!


	2. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay, plot! Keith makes some friends and learns some stuff that sends him straight into a mystery with a bunch of people that are basically strangers. Shiro would be so proud if it weren't for the, y'know, explosions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I've always been annoyed when authors do that whole "sorry I took so long, life happened blah blah" thing but, honestly? I get it now. I do sorta feel like I should be apologizing. So, to the few people who actually clicked on this and may or may not be coming back to read more, sorry I guess? I lost motivation in this and just sorta worked on it when I was hella bored. But here it is! I half assed the editing of the last few paragraphs so if it sucks let me know?
> 
> Enjoy!

He could see what all the fuss was about. He knew, coming in, he’d seen all the videos and Shiro had taken him as far in as he could in the Garrison one Christmas. But now, at the end of the day, after he’d been to all his classes in both the Garrison and the Blade of Marmora compound? Now he really  _knew._

 

The place was amazing. The methods they chose, the teachers- Kolivan, his hand-to-hand and blade training instructor, was his favorite- even the buildings themselves, they all made it into the most incredible place he’d ever been to, the most exciting experience of his life, not that the rest of his life put up much of  a challenge to top it.

 

Even the walk home was nice. Seattle was amazing in the fall. It was warm but not hot and the breeze that drifted through made him shiver, a welcome change from the fires of Texas. It would take some getting used to but he always had preferred ice to fire. Besides, he ran hotter than most people anyways.

 

The trip to his dorm in the Blade compound was only about two blocks. It was a quick five minute stroll. He’d even made sure to be the first one out the door of his Intro to Astrophysics class so he could have a peaceful walk back, no jostling shoulder, no unnecessary contact that would leave him feeling anxious and violated.

 

Or, at least, that’s how it should have been.

 

Instead, Keith tripped over something, barely managing to save himself by grabbing hold of one of the No Parking signs that littered the street.

 

He turned around, slightly embarrassed that he hadn’t been watching where he was going, and found not a what, but a who.

 

A small girl was sat criss-cross-applesauce on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk facing away from him. One of her hands was curled around the other shoulder, a hiss of pain barely audible over the loud drone of cars and buses driving by. Her wings were stretched out over her bare arms, impossibly fast flaps blurring their image like a hummingbird’s wings before stopping again. His eyes widened as he took them in. Pixie wings.

 

Her back was bared, thin strips of her spring green flowy tank top holding it in place. The strips were messy like she’d cut them herself. She probably had. He’d heard pixie and fairy wings were itchy when touched and the special clothes he’d seen for them in stores were expensive since they were such a niche item. He remembered dropping the price tag of one like it’d burned him once. The number written on it had startled and scared the hell out of him.

 

He couldn’t help it. He stared. They were beautiful. He’d never seen pixie wings in real life before. They were pretty rare, along with the rest of the Fantasy wing types. Most people kept theirs covered since people tended to stare, even though it was considered exceptionally rude. Just like Keith was. Right now. He should really stop.

 

They were long and thin like a dragonfly’s, but unlike a dragonfly there were only two of them and they stood out vibrantly against her skin. The surface was a soft and pale, barely there pink while the veins were a vibrant spring green. Keith would have sworn they shimmered if it were possible for tattoos to shimmer.

 

Tiny white and green specks caught his eye, falling down her back and disappearing under the fabric of her white capris. Pixie dust, he thought.

 

Then her head whipped around and he couldn’t tear his eyes away fast enough and he knew he’d been caught. Her wings lifted even higher, climbing up over her shoulders and tucking down into the front of her tank top. Her face twisted into a snarl to match as she stood up, fingers roughly shoving her round glasses up before crossing her arms tightly over her chest, somehow managing to look intimidating despite how short she was.

 

“See something you like, pervert?! Why don’t you take a picture like everybody else?! It’ll last longer, jackoff!”

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!” He really didn’t. He put his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. He really didn’t want an enemy on his first day. “I swear, I didn’t see you there when I tripped over you and then after- I’ve never seen pixie wings before, I didn’t mean to stare.”

 

She studied his face for a moment, eyes boring into him uncomfortably. “Hmm. Okay. I guess it’s fine. I don’t usually get an apology. Usually when guys oggle my wings it’s because they want to get in my pants,” she mused. Her expression hardened again. “But if you think you’re getting a date out of this-”

 

“I’m gay.” The words were out of his mouth before he could think about it. He tensed a little, face reddening. _Why did he say that?_ Seattle was a pretty accepting city but the fear was still there. He doubted it’d ever really go away.

 

There was a stunned silence while Keith stared hard at the girl, waiting. Anxiety curled in his gut, growing with each passing tick.

 

And then she burst out laughing. Her wings flicked off her arms and onto her back where he couldn’t see them but if he had to guess he’d say they were fluttering pretty hard judging by her laughter. Her arms shifted, crossing over her stomach while she bent over with the force of her laughter. “Oh man, oh man, this is definitely the most unexpected way anyone’s ever come out to me!”

 

Keith didn’t know what to do. Of all the reactions he’d gotten so far, all the reactions he’d thought of, this was not one he’d prepared for.

 

She calmed down, wiping a tear from under her glasses as she stood up, a huge smile firmly in place. She held out her hand. “I’m Pidge. I’m aro/ace.”

 

Oh. Huh. One day in and he's already meeting a fellow queer. Nice. Except... He stared down at her hand. “Uh.”  _Take it Keith. Just take her hand, it’s not hard, she’s not going to hurt you, this isn’t His house, she’s not Him-_

 

His thoughts were cut off. “Hey, you okay? You don’t have to shake my hand, I don’t mind. If you’re not comfortable with touch that’s totally fine, dude.”

 

He breathed out a gust of breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding. His wings twitched under his sleeves. “Thanks.” He looked back up at her face. There was worry there but it was fading, replaced by something that made him a little wary, something he couldn’t place just yet.

 

“So. Mysterious stranger. You go to Voltron U?”

 

He blinked. Right. He hadn’t given her his name. “My name’s Keith. And, yeah, I go here. I’m in the Space and Athletics Departments.”

 

“Nice. I’m in the Programming Department.” She paused and he could practically see the gears turning in her head. That same look appeared in her eyes, this time accompanied by a suspicious smirk that had him shifting warily. “You know what? I think you really hurt my shoulder.”

 

His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “What? You seem fine!”

 

She grinned wickedly as she cradled the shoulder he must have tripped over. There was a light bruise forming there but nothing serious at all. “No, you really messed it up. You might have to pay my medical bills!”

 

She had to be fucking with him right? Was she trying to sue him over a bruise that was mostly her fault anyways? Who sits in the middle of a sidewalk?! He could feel the feathers of his wings puffing on his arms.

 

“Or,” she continued, pausing the anger rising in his chest. “Or, you can go to the library tomorrow at 11:30 and be my backup.”

 

Huh? Keith was lost. What was even happening right now? “Backup?”

 

“Look, I get hit on all the time.” Her face contorted into annoyance. “People see my wings and my short hair and my open backed shirts and they decide I must be their manic pixie dream girl or whatever and it’s not cool. I can handle myself but it gets really hard to study in the library when I have to stop to flip off guys every fifteen minutes.”

 

He was starting to put the pieces together but he was still a little stuck. “And you want me to…? Pretend to be your boyfriend?”

 

She gaped at him before snorting and waving her hands. “No! Not a chance. Just glare at them or something. You have the kind of face that screams ‘go away’, no offense.” She grinned again. “That or I dig up everything about your life and use it to blackmail you as punishment for being hella rude.”

 

He stared at her and she stared back. He couldn’t believe the nerve of this girl. It was kinda endearing. Like the little sister he’d never wanted. “You aren’t joking, are you,” he asked, dread curling in his stomach.

 

She shook her head. “Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’.

 

He pretended to consider it even though he already knew the answer. He wanted to at least save some face.

 

“C’mon, Keith! You really thinking about leaving a helpless little girl to fend off creeps by herself?” She fluttered her eyelashes and slouched, trying to make herself look even smaller.

 

He found himself snorting in amusement. “I highly doubt you’re helpless,” he said, crossing his arms. “You could probably kill a man.” Pause. “You probably have killed a man,” he amended.

 

She laughed. “I’m not bad in a fight,” she conceded.

 

“You seem like more trouble than you’re worth.”

 

“And yet, you still haven’t said no.”

 

“Maybe I don’t mind a little trouble.”

 

She smirked at him again and he got the feeling that was basically her default expression. “I knew it. Give me your phone, I’ll give you my number and you can text me tomorrow when you get there. I’ll tell you where I am.”

 

He handed it over, wondering how it had come to this. Shiro had asked him to make friends here. They’d met up for lunch, of course, would probably be hanging out more once Keith was settled in, but he couldn’t be his only friend. Now here he was exchanging numbers with a tiny girl who might actually be a demon in disguise, a girl who’d just conned him into playing bodyguard and had given him a name that sounded very fake. He wondered if Shiro would be pleased or exasperated.

 

He said bye to Pidge, headed back to his dorm, and spent the rest of the night glossing over his textbooks and syllabi for all his classes. A completely normal night. He had a not-so-strange feeling his nights wouldn’t be normal for long.

 

***************

 

Keith sat in his chair in the library, three different books open in front of him and a huge, empty cup of black starbucks coffee in his hands. It had only been four days and he was already ready to die. Most of what he was cramming into his brain was stuff he’d already learned in high school but everyone had forgotten over the summer. The first two weeks of most of his classes was dedicated to relearning it all. It sucked.

 

The librarian has already asked Pidge to sit in a chair three times now. To be fair, she did move every time, it’s just that she moved back onto the table after a few minutes. He wondered when they’d give up asking. He would’ve thought they’d get the picture after the first day.

 

Keith spared a sharp glare to his side where he could see red sneakers angled in Pidge’s direction and the guy wearing them promptly turned tail. It wasn’t hard. He’d been cultivating this look since he was seven and it’d been made clear that most people sucked. He really did make a good bodyguard.

 

Pidge snickered every time someone ran away. He was starting to suspect she didn’t actually need his help with this. She just liked laughing at the fear in their eyes.

 

Red sneakers guy was the fifth guy today, though, so maybe there was merit in what she’d said. Keith couldn’t imagine having to brush off one guy a day, but five? More? Pidge was living in hell as far as he could tell.

 

And then this one guy came waltzing up.

 

He was tall and brown, long legs, short brown hair. He was actually really beautiful, had a well proportioned face, but the expression he wore made him look like a douchebag, like he was only coming up to them to cause trouble. He had on jeans and a sweatshirt that said “I’m into all kinds of wings” with an emoji winky face underneath. His shoes were those bulky high tops he’d seen on dancers. Keith glared as he came up to the table but the guy didn’t seem to care. He walked up anyways.

 

Pidge stiffened in her seat when he stopped just behind her chair.

 

“Hey, babe, are you a firework?” His voice was smooth in an annoying middle schooler kind of way.

 

Keith was expecting a lot of possible reactions from Pidge. They ranged from fiery fury all the way to a cold, indifferent brush off. He was not expecting her shoulders to relax, her wings to unwind from her shoulders and flutter gently, a soft snort of laughter escaping her lips. She smirked before leaping up on top of her chair and throwing herself perfectly at the guy like she knew exactly where his shoulders would be.

 

Pretty Boy laughed as he staggered backwards. Pidge’s legs hooked around the guy’s middle, her arms wrapped tight around his neck. His own arms circled her waist, squeezing her back just as tightly. “Because you’re breathtakingly beautiful, but I don’t want you anywhere near my genitals!”

 

She laughed openly at his odd twist to the pick up line. “Lance! I would say I missed you but you’d never let me live it down, you ass!” She dropped off of him suddenly, her hands resting against her hips like she was mad but her fluttering wings gave her away. She was happy to see him. “You better have just gotten home, Lance. You know damn well that I’m the first person you’re allowed to visit when you get back from a trip.”

 

He put his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, yeah, Pidgey, of course! I haven’t even gone home yet, yeesh!” His voice softened. “I know how you are. Of course you’re the first person I’d go see.”

 

She nodded and then seemed to remember Keith who was completely lost. “Oh, yeah, Lance, this is Keith,” she said, turning to look back at him, smile a mile wide. “Keith, this is my not-quite-brother, Lance. He’s not related to me at all but we grew up together so we’ve agreed to just say we’re siblings.”

 

He smoothed the confusion on his face into a polite smile and nodded at him. “Hey.” He could understand that. After all, he did the same with Shiro.

 

Lance gave him a wide, genuine smile that quickly dipped into something more suggestive. “Hey, the name’s Lance.” He gave him a two fingered salute. And then he _winked._ What an ass.

 

“Ugh, Lance, don’t start, please.”

 

“Hey, you know flirting is my go-to hello!”

 

“Yeah but Keith will not react well, trust me.” She looked over at him, humor clear in her face. “I have a feeling he can fuck someone up.”

 

Lance grinned even wider, a feat Keith had no idea how he managed. “Oh yeah? When you say fuck, do you mean- Agh!” His voice cut off as he fell over in a heap of lanky limbs, body stiff. He looked like he’d just been paralyzed.

 

Keith’s wings twitched in shock, eyes widening, bewildered. What just happened? His gaze shot back and forth between Lance, struggling to sit up, and Pidge, grinning fondly at something in her hand. “Uh, what?”

 

Pidge goddamn _cackled_ like a maniac at the look on his face. “OH MAN, Keith, I forgot you’ve never seen my taser before!” She held up the thing in her hand, a tiny white rectangle with two, neon green metal nubs on one end. “I made it myself! I can adjust its power level and everything! It’s usually on pretty low since Lance here can’t seem to keep his damn mouth shut. Like a douchebag jar, but electric.”

 

Jesus, he'd had the idea that Pidge might be completely insane the first day they'd met but now? Now he knew she was.

 

Lance moaned from the ground, finally getting his arms under him and pushing himself up. “I think I’d prefer the douchebag jar,” he groaned.

 

Pidge ignored him. “Don’t worry, you get used to it. Besides, I have permission.”

 

“Don’t listen to her, Keith, she’s a liar and a gremlin!”

 

“I never said I got _your_ permission!”

 

Keith couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face at Lance and Pidge’s bickering. They really were like siblings. “I gotta side with Pidge on this one, uh, Lance, was it?” It was mostly in solidarity with Pidge but he couldn’t deny that it was a little funny. He trusted that Pidge knew how much electricity would actually hurt Lance. Sorta.

 

Lance’s hands slammed down on the desk, gripping the sides to help pull him up, face pulled in a faux pout. “Pff! We both know she’s a mischievous brat!” His pout fell just as suddenly as it’d appeared and he grinned up at Keith. “So, I saw you giving me a pretty impressive glare. You protecting Pidge from the creeps while I was gone?”

 

He nodded, a little surprised at the change in conversation and that he was apparently filling in for this dude. “I guess. I wasn’t really given much of a choice.”

 

He considered him, eyes suddenly sharp like they were digging into Keith’s soul. “Nah. You could’ve walked away.” He stared harder, the gaze intensifying. “You chose not to. You could tell she’d be a handful and you still came here with her.”

 

A shiver went up his spine. This guy had just met him and could already read him like that? It was more than a little uncomfortable.

 

Pidge must have seen how unnerved he was because she elbowed Lance in the stomach.

 

“Ow! Pidgey, your elbows are sharp!”

 

“Maybe you should learn to keep your psychic shit to yourself then!”

 

“Psychic?” Keith raised an eyebrow at the pair, Lance’s arm wrapped around her neck in a chokehold while he noogied her.

 

Pidge grimaced, stomping on his foot, making him rip his arms away to clutch at his injured extremity. “Yeah, dude’s totally psychic,” she said, smoothing her mused shirt, a T-shirt with the schools programming department mascot on it, the green lion. The back had an upside down ‘V’ cut out of it so her wings could breath. She didn’t even bother smoothing out the messy birds nest of her hair.

 

“I’m not psychic, Pidge, just hyper observant.”

 

She snorted. “Yeah, same difference.”

 

“I don’t even rank that high on the scale! I am not one of your supernatural cryptids.” He crossed his arms like the thought upset him but his lips were having a hard time staying in a straight line.

 

“Debatable,” she retorted, voice and eyes flat.

 

Keith snorted.

 

“You even noticed when Rover was acting weird that one time. Saved my life. Well, my grade, but that’s basically the same thing in this wreck of an economy.”

 

Keith had no idea what was happening anymore but it was interesting as fuck. He had so many questions. Usually he’d brush them off, telling himself they weren’t important enough to interrupt and ask, but this time he makes a split decision. He’s comfortable with Pidge after only three days and somehow Lance is an easy guy to talk to, even if he seems like an ass. This time he won’t shy away. This time he’ll make and effort.

 

“Wait, wait, wait, what are you guys even talking about? Hyper observant? Rover?” He channels his confusion into his words and hopes he’s not being as pushy as he always worries he’ll be. Shiro would cry tears of joy if he could see him now.

 

Lance gave him a lopsided grin, his arm finding its way around Pidges shoulders and resting there while her wings settled down again after their tussle. “Yeah, I was tested in high school. They said I’m hyper observant but, like, only a little bit. I’m not like Sherlock or Shawn Spencer or anything but I can usually pick up on stuff other people don’t notice.”

 

“And Rover was my robot,” Pidge continued. “I stole him from the tech department last year and reprogrammed him to bring me things.” She sighed wistfully, shaking Lance’s arm off so she could climb back onto the table. “He exploded in the Green Energy ward while Professor Coran was checking on his turbines. Lance noticed Rover moving kinda weird and then he heard a noise Rover’s never made before and pushed the Professor out of the way.”

 

Keith could only gape at them both. Stolen, programmed robots? And this douchebag could tell it was about to blow up by just a weird sound? Geniuses. He was sitting with geniuses, apparently. Crazy geniuses. And apparently someone had sabotaged Pidge? What had he gotten himself into? Or, what was he _about_ to get himself into since there was no way he’d be leaving this alone.

 

Pidge chuckled at the look on his face. “Don’t worry, no one got hurt. Lance made sure of that.” Her brows pulled together in worry, mouth dipping into a deep frown. “I still don’t know who sabotaged him. I know someone tampered with him because when I sent him out to spy on Coran he was fine. He didn’t even have the capability to explode the way he did, and even if he did he wouldn’t have. I coded him perfectly, and Hunk checked the tech over himself!”

 

Keith didn’t know who Hunk was but he pushed that away for now. This was serious, even if no one had gotten hurt. “Have you told anyone about this?” His voice was full of worry that he didn’t even try to mask.

 

Lance leaned down on the table next to Pidge, the three of them ducking in closer to keep from being overheard. “No way, man. We don’t know who to trust. I blew it off to Coran, told him I didn’t know whose bot it was. I didn’t know Coran very well back then, I didn’t know if he’d get Pidge expelled if he knew it was hers. The only people who know besides us are Hunk, Matt, and Allura.”

 

Keith kept his questions about the three unfamiliar names to himself. His mind was turning over the information and he was quickly coming to a conclusion. “I’m in.” He wanted to help his new friend. Friends? Besides, it’d at least be a welcome distraction from school.

 

He didn’t have time to compute how odd that must have sounded to them before Lance was giving him a shining grin and Keith’s stomach was rolling. He could see Lance’s eyes this close up. One was a deep, tropic ocean blue while the other was a pleasing dark chocolate brown. They were mesmerizing, at least until Lance opened his mouth.

 

“I knew you’d like the trouble!” Lance winced when he heard how loud his voice was, getting a few dirty looks from students nearby and snapping Keith out of his musings. “Sorry. That’s what you meant though, right? You wanna help us investigate?”

 

Keith nodded, face set with determination. He looked to Pidge who was pulling a laptop out of her bag. “Okay, I’ll show you what information I have but…” she trailed off, eyes focusing on her laptop.

 

“But you gotta meet the gang first,” Lance finished for her. Keith raised an eyebrow at him, looking pointedly at Pidge before looking at Lance again. He laughed. “Yeah, Pidge does that sometimes. It’s a good think I always know what she’s trying to say or we’d never know the ends of her sentences!” He pulled his phone out, tapping something out almost as quickly as Pidge’s fingers flew over her keys. He set the phone on the table.

 

Keith watched Lance grab a chair from the table behind him and pull it up, sitting in it backwards with his arms resting on the table between him and Pidge. “Man, you are gonna love the others, Hunk is awesome, he’s my best friend! Allura is really beautiful but I gotta tell ya, you do not have a chance with her, she’s like, way out of anyone’s league, I swear, she’s alone in her own god tier league or something! Matt is really cool, too, he’s Pidge’s brother and-,”

 

Lance chattered on and on, his bright smile and easy-going attitude catching a lot of attention from the other students. He filled what would have been silence so easily. He seemed loud but no one was objecting so either he wasn’t as loud as Keith thought or no one minded. His voice was actually really nice when he wasn’t spouting bad pick up lines.

 

A group a few tables down broke into giggles, pulling Lance's attention away. He broke off from his in depth description of Hunk's "absolutely quiznacking amazing" cooking skills to look over at them. The group looked like some sort of jock and prep table, the sort of group Keith could easily imagine Lance thriving in based off of his looks and what little he knew of the guy. They all started shoving each other until one guy was forced out, face flushing, the rest of them full on laughing at the sour look he tossed them. Lance raised an eyebrow at him. He walked up to their table.

 

The guy cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry, a few of my friends over there thought you were cute and wanted you to know.”

 

A quiet chorus of ‘no’s filled the air and the guy reddened even more.

 

“Um, I uh, I thought you were cute," he amended to the groups delight. "Do you think- Can I, uh- Nevermind!” He made a tiny squeak that even embarrassed Keith and then turned around and speed walked back to the others.

 

Lance turned back to him, eyes swimming in mirth. “That was… interesting. Poor guy. I mean, I know I’m stunning and all but I’d hardly say I’m too intimidating to ask on a date!” He gestured to himself vaguely. “Guess my bod’s too rockin’ for just anyone to handle.” He winked at Keith before turning to the group and sending them finger guns, laughing when a few of them turned red, giggling into their hands again.

 

He was kinda… cute. Endearing.

 

“So, Keith, what are you in for?”

 

Keith gave him a questioning look. “Uh… Studying?” He gestured to the books.

 

“What? No, no I meant what Department are you in?” Lance laughed at his flustered look.

 

“Oh. Uh, I’m in the Space and Athletics Departments.”

 

“Yeah? That’s cool, which programs?”

 

“Hand-to-hand and blades, and the Fighter Pilot program.”

 

Lance looked impressed, eyebrows raising impossibly high. How was his face able to do all these extreme expressions. “Dude, really? That’s awesome! You musta got, like, really high simulator test scores!”

 

“Yeah, I guess. I doubt I’ll ever actually fly one though. We don’t have the technology to go that far into space yet.” He grimaced. “I would love to fly though.”

 

“Aw, Keef, you never know! You haven’t met Hunk yet! My bro is a genius!”

 

Lance looked genuinely proud of this Hunk guy. His grin was lopsided and there were stars in his eyes. He was, maybe, the happiest guy Keith had ever seen.

 

Keith gave him a small smile. “So, what Program-”

 

Lance’s phone buzzed loudly against the table and he snatched it up with excitement. “Pidge, the whole gang’s here! Oh man, I haven’t seen any of them in _months!_ I’ll be right back with them!”

 

He stood up, turning and running off.

 

****************

 

The other three were… not what he was expecting. Thinking back on it, Keith has no idea what he was expecting. Lance and Pidge were more than odd by themselves, but the rest of them really pushed their table over the top. They could win a “Most Interesting and Diverse Group” award.

 

Hunk was a bear of a man. He was almost as tall as Shiro and, though he was built differently and had more weight to him, probably about as strong as him, which was startling considering how fit his brother kept himself. Hunk would be pretty alarming if he weren’t also the sweetest, most sunshiney guy Keith had ever met.

 

He gave him a huge smile as they said hello, offering his hand but letting him be when Keith declined.

 

Lance was right about Allura. She was like some sort of goddamn goddess. Her white hair and bright blue eyes made the most beautiful contrast against her dark skin. She was tall and lean but Keith could see the muscle in her arms. She was probably stronger than him.

 

She gave him a very regal hello with a less than surprising British accent before laughing loudly, shattering the princess vibe. She grinned at him as she introduced herself.

 

Lance snuck up behind her and, stifling his eye roll, Keith kept quiet as he prepared for a sneak attack.

 

“Boo!” Lance jumped up next to her, settling his arm around her shoulder as he crashed down. To her credit, Allura didn’t even bat an eye. He faced Keith again, unbothered by his failure. “Allura’s my sister. Well, _adopted_ sister. She’s built up an immunity to me over the last two years.” He bumped his hip into hers, grinning. “But don’t worry. I’m gonna scare her again someday.” He winked at her and she scoffed.

 

“Don’t believe everything Lance says, Keith. He hasn’t scared me in over a year and I doubt he ever will again.” Lance put a hand to his chest, faking insult.

 

“Excuse, I am very scary when I want to be!”

 

Allura smirked, eyebrows raising high. “Oh, is that so?”

 

Lance faltered. His arms withdrew, crossing over his chest as he slouched. “What are you getting at?”

 

“Maybe you can be scary… but you’re also a scaredy cat.”

 

His jaw dropped. “What?! Am not!”

 

She didn’t answer, just continued staring in amusement, and Keith decided he liked her, too.

 

Then the last guy stepped up and Keith had to do a double take.

 

He looked _exactly_ like Pidge. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but they looked _a lot_ alike. He was taller, his face a little sharper, he had a scar on his cheek, and he wasn’t wearing glasses. Other than that, though, he could’ve been her twin.

 

“Hey,” he said, giving Keith a little wave. “I’m Matt, Pidge’s brother, but you could probably tell. Heard you’ve been helping my sister out with her boy problems! Thanks for that, man.”

 

Keith gave him an awkward nod. “No problem. I’ve been told I’m naturally unapproachable.”

 

Lance gave a surprised laugh. “Hey! Keith does jokes, guys!” He grinned wide at Keith. He seemed to do that a lot. Keith absently wondered if Lance ever did anything but pout and smile. He would've been offended by the assumption that he couldn't be funny but they had business to get to.

 

Pidge agreed. “Okay guys,” she said, setting her laptop aside. “I know it was a while ago but we never did figure out what happened to Rover and Keith here has agreed to help out.”

 

They all turned to look at him.

 

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know what I could do to help but…,” He trailed off.

 

“Right. As I was saying, we didn’t have a lot of time to figure anything out before summer break last year so I thought we could go over the evidence and see where to go from there.” She pushed her glasses up, glancing at her screen. “So. We know Rover got hacked somehow. They changed his LED lights and his sounds, they modified him so he could explode, they had him follow Coran on the day I was having him spy on Coran already so I wouldn’t notice anything was off, and then they triggered his explosion. Lance tackled Coran out of the way but he didn’t get hurt so either they got lucky or it was never meant to be a serious explosion. We don’t know if they were trying to get me in trouble or if they were targeting Coran or the Green Energy ward, or something else. It’s kinda hard to look for suspects when you don’t know who the target was.”

 

“It could’ve been Lance.”

 

All eyes turned to him in shock. Had they not thought of that before? Even Lance looked shocked.

 

“What?" He shifted in his chair, uncomfortable with being the center of attention. "He was there, he could’ve been the target. We have to at least consider it.”

 

Hunk gave Lance a worried look. “Man, we never even- Keith’s right. I don’t know who would want you hurt but, I mean, it’s possible.”

 

The group all eyed each other, unease evident in their worried faces, their tense shoulders, their twitching fingers. They didn’t like this new possibility, liked it even less than Pidge being the target, or maybe they’d just gotten used to Pidge being the target.

 

Allura straightened her shoulders. “Lance, did you… anger anyone, perhaps? Not too long before the explosion?”

 

Lance threw his hands up, stressed and annoyed. “I don’t know! I don’t think so? I mean, it was almost four months ago!”

 

Pidge snorted. “Really? You piss off so many people. What about James? Iverson? Rolo and Nyma? Lotor?”

 

Lance scoffed. “I do not piss off that many people! I’m a charmer, Pidge, I charm people! James and Iverson are just assholes! Rolo and Nyma were a misunderstanding. And Lotor- Well, actually, I wouldn’t put it past Lotor to try to have me killed but I doubt he’d be so explosive about it.”

 

“Who’s Lotor?” Iverson and James had rung bells in his head but the others he didn’t recognize.

 

The entire group groaned in unison, so perfectly in sync that Keith thought it might have been rehearsed.

 

“An ass-”

 

“Just the worst-”

 

“Cheating bastard-”

 

“That perverted sicko-”

 

“He sucks!”

 

There was a moment of silence as they all cut off, words mixing together into nonsense.

 

“Um, jeez, what’d the guy do?”

 

Allura gave a humorless laugh. It was full of hate. “He played nice. He tricked us into thinking he was a good man, he hung out with us, he was our friend. We were- he was my boyfriend. And then I found out he was cheating. I was the other woman. And his first girlfriend was Romelle. My cousin.”

 

Lance rested an arm on her shoulder and she sent him a grateful look before shrugging it off. “I’m fine, Lance. It was five months ago.” She turned back to Keith. “Lance was the only one of us to see through his act. He tried to warn us all and we… We should have listened. Instead, we trusted Lotor’s charm over Lance.”

 

Hunk looked heartbroken, avoiding everyone’s eyes as he put an arm around Lance. Keith was beginning to notice the whole group was very touchy feely. “I’m still sorry buddy. I should’ve listened to you.”

 

Lance laughed and smiled widely at the very guilty group. “Guys, It’s fine. I get it, he was convincing! I’m okay.”

 

He looked and sounded sincere, and the others seemed to buy it, but Keith didn’t trust easy. He doubted anyone could be okay after what he was hearing happened. As far as Keith could tell, Lotor strolled in and stole all of Lance’s friends in one fell swoop. That didn’t strike him as something people could get past very quickly. Shit, if that had happened to Keith he doubted he’d ever get over it.

 

Pidge shifted, her wings shifting along her arms, slowly drifting back down like she really did think Lance was okay. “Back to the situation at hand, Hunk, I never got a chance to ask you to look over Rover. I have his parts right here, I don’t know if you’ll find anything. He’s burnt to hell.”

 

“Oh, yeah, I can take a look! If there are any extra parts I’ll definitely be able to tell.” Hunk’s eyes shined as he took in the bag of warped metal like it was a birthday present. He turned the bag over in his hands and then stuffed it into his backpack.

 

“Matt, I managed to pull some data off him but it wasn’t a lot and I didn’t recognize the coding style. You’ve been here longer, will you look at it with me, see if you can figure it out?”

 

Matt nodded down at her, hand reaching out to tossle her hair. “Sure Katie. Why didn’t you ask me to do it sooner?”

 

“I wasn’t about to investigate without the team here, Matt. What are we, animals? Now shh, let me finish! Keith, Lance, and Allura. You guys need to work out all the possible targets, suspects for each one, and motives for each suspect. Lance, Allura, you guys remember all that stuff, right? Go over it with Keith because apparently we missed a few things. Keith can be a fresh set of eyes.”

 

The three of them had nodded, the group had stayed to study, and Keith somehow ended up accidentally making four new friends in one day. Shiro was gonna cry tears of joy when he heard about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I a good writer? I honestly can't tell. I think I'm like, good.... but not great. Like, have you read anything by wittyy_name? Damn, son. They are such a pleasure to read but it really knocks down my own self esteem. Seriously. If you haven't read their stuff then you are missing out.  
> Anyways, let me know if I messed shit up. And any suggestions for things you'd like to see happen here are welcome! At this point I just sorta start writing and things happen. Also I'm working on like five different fics right now because I keep having great ideas and it's a problem so... sorry about delays in advance? I have no idea when the next chapter will be out.
> 
> edit: Some stuff got cut out when I posted this for some reason. IDK why so if it seems like there's a word or sentence missing somewhere then comment and I'll see if it's a mistake. It might have just been stuff I had in italics that got left out. I fixed the mistakes I saw but I could've missed something.


	3. Gentle Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance each realize some... interesting things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I somehow accidentally uploaded a chapter three but it was just chapter two again?? I honestly have no clue how that happened. But here's the actual chapter three. It took a while because I moved houses and then there was Thanksgiving and then I had to write the thing and then there was season 8 which I was not a fan of for many reasons and I had to recover from it, and then there was Christmas. I finally edited and here we are. (Yikes that whole explanation was bad grammar)  
> Anyways... enjoy?

The more Keith hung out with this god forsaken group the more intrigued he got.

 

Allura was rich. Not like ‘I can apply for a large loan and be fine’ rich, rich as in ‘I don’t even need a large loan to be able to afford anything’. Rich as in he was now almost positive she was an actual millionaire.

 

Her house was huge. In Texas that wouldn’t have been so alarming. Most houses were huge there and most houses housed large families and hosted even larger family gatherings. But this wasn’t Texas. This was Washington. Specifically, Seattle. And Allura’s house was huge.

 

Once upon a time Keith had been excited about big houses full of family. Or, potential family, at least. Experience had dulled and rusted that excitement. Experience had taught him large families meant too many differing opinions for any sort of happiness. Large families meant more bullying flying under the radar. Large families meant foster parents thriving off of state-granted foster care money while the kids squabbled unsupervised for the scraps. Now he was just… wary.

 

He eyed the house looming above him, its dark, gaping windows and its tall, flat roof. It was modern and new and immaculate. The steps leading up to it were lined with well kept juniper bushes and the small plots of land on either side were covered in dying grass and orange and yellow leaves. He wondered for a moment if anyone else was home before he remembered Allura was an orphan like him and probably didn’t have any family to have at home.

 

Or was he misunderstanding things and this was Lance’s family home? He had mentioned she was his adopted sister, right?

 

“This is- It’s your house? Just yours?” He asked before he could overthink it.

 

She nodded, snickering behind her hand at Lance’s huddled form beside her, shivering even under his puffy, olive-green coat. “Yes, when my father died he left me a rather large sum of money as well as this house. He was a bit of a genius.”

 

“Ugh, ‘llura, let’s go! I’m freezing out here!” Lance huffed as he stomped up the steps. Allura waved Keith forward and together they all made their way up the steps and inside.

 

The interior was just as expensive looking, sleek and clean, sharp lines and futuristic lights built into walls. He was too afraid to touch anything; even the floor looked too expensive to put his feet on.

 

Lance had no such problems. He kicked off his high tops with an actually impressive flick of his legs- they landed almost perfectly next to the line of Allura’s shoes- and sighed in happiness as his fluffy socked feet flexed against the hardwood. At first Keith thought it was from the relief of being barefooted but then the guy practically melted into a puddle on the ground, pressing as much of himself against the dark wood as he could.

 

Allura stepped over him as if it was a common occurrence. It probably was.

 

“What are you doing on the ground?” He asked, wincing at how judgmental it sounded coming out of his mouth.

 

Lance didn’t seem to mind though. “The floor is heated,” he said, the words coming out muffled with his face squished against the floor. “And I’m always cold! I mean,  _ always _ _. _ ‘llura’s house is a  _ godsend _ _. _ ”

 

He took another moment to stare at the actual grown man sprawled across the floor like a drama queen before taking off his shoes. He set them carefully on the mat, still filled with that fear of dirtying the perfect surfaces around him with fingerprints.  _ He _ had never liked that.

 

Keith took a deep breath, brushing that particular thought away. This wasn’t _there_ _._ _He_ wasn’t here. He followed Allura’s footsteps deeper into her house.

\--

 

They ended up sprawled across the heated kitchen floors, the same dark, almost black wood beneath them, surrounded by glaringly white cabinets and marble counters. Keith’s coat was in a pile with Lance’s on the floor by the door although Keith kept his cropped red hoodie on. He didn’t like exposing his wings.

 

Lance had pitched a fit when Keith suggested they sit at one of the many perfectly polished glass tables or mahogany desks. Allura just shook her head as if to say ‘no, don’t argue’ so he hadn’t.

 

“Okay, so I have a few files on Google Drive that I can send to you guys. I didn’t put any pages for myself in there, obviously, since none of us even thought I could’ve been the target, so we’ll have to add that in.” Lance powered up his laptop, tapping a few keys before- “Okay, Allura, I sent them to you. Keith! My buddy, my man, I need your email!”

 

“Oh, uh…” He flushed with embarrassment. “It’s… Uh, it’s  [ emo_edge_lord_3@Voltron.edu ](mailto:emo_edge_lord_3@Voltron.edu) .” There was a very deafening silence, thick enough to insulate the air until it was unbearably hot in the room, his face practically on fire.

 

Lance’s face was gradually turning red too, his lips twitching up uncontrollably at the corners, his eyes shining with undisguised glee. He burst out laughing so suddenly that Keith flinched, wincing a bit as his voice was magnified by the wide open space around them. “Keith,” he managed to choke out between his laughs. “Keith, what- What the hell, man?!” He gasped, wiping tears from his eyes which quickly refilled, his other hand wrapped around his stomach. He broke into another peal of laughter, his head tipping back, shoulders shaking.

 

He could barely respond, stuck staring at the incredibly beautiful view of a laughing Lance. He groaned inwardly at himself.  _ Say something, idiot! Gods, I’m an absolute gay disaster. _

 

Allura tittered beside them, her hand over her mouth. “Oh my, I think you’ve broken each other.”

 

Keith finally found his words. “Shiro set it up! He handled everything when I got accepted and he definitely did not ask for my approval when he made my email address.” He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest, his wings straining under his sleeves to move. He made them stay put through sheer force of will.

 

Lance wiped at his eyes again, trying to catch his breath and failing. He hiccupped and made a face. “Shiro? Who dat?” He snorted again, just barely managing to catch himself before he spiraled into another laugh attack.

 

Keith shook the stars out of his eyes, turning his gaze away from the absurdly pretty boy in front of him. He looked at Allura instead. “Takashi, he’s my brother, kinda. I mean, not by blood but… Yeah.”

 

Like a switch had been flipped, both Lance and Allura went from humored to intrigued. “Wait, Takashi?” Allura asked, her head tipping to the side, her hand raising to poke at her cheek. “Do you mean Takashi Shirogane?”

 

He made a face, confusion lifting an eyebrow. “Yeah, you know him?”

 

“Know him?! That guy’s my hero! Holy crow, I can’t believe this! Your brother?!” Lance’s hands waved through the air, dangerously close to smacking his own face. “I know the Champion’s brother!”

 

“Champion?” Now they’d lost him.

 

Lance and Allura shared an incredulous look. “Oh my, he doesn’t know. Keith,” Allura said, turning back to him. “Do you by any chance avoid social media and news… and other people in general?”

 

Lance snorted before he could reply. “He’s awkward and touch-adversed, Allura. What do you think?”

 

The air suddenly felt much colder than it had any business being. His wings stiffened along his arms. Right. Lance was hyper observant. Of course he’d notice Keith avoiding any and every touch like the plague. Of course he would forget that not everyone noticed the same things he did.

 

But how long had he known? Had he told the whole group yet, the people Keith was hoping he could get close to? Did Matt know? Hunk? He suspected Pidge had put it together after his minor freak out when they met but had Lance confirmed it for her?

 

Allura hadn’t known, apparently.

 

“Touch-adversed?” She asked, eyes flickering between the two, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. “Really?”

 

Keith nodded stiffly. Too late to keep it quiet now.

 

Lance’s eyes widened almost comically. “Oh shit, Keith, was it a secret?” He looked down, avoiding Keith’s eyes, more words rushing out before he could respond. “I’m sorry man, I usually forget other people don’t notice all that stuff. I didn’t even think about it, I swear, if I knew you didn’t want everyone else to know I wouldn’t have said anything just now!” His eyes flickered back up before staring hard at the dark wood grain of the floor.

 

Shit. What was he supposed to do with that? It had sorta been a secret but at the same time it wasn’t like the guy meant to spill it. He might’ve been a loud douchebag (the jury was still out on that) but he wasn’t a grade A asshole.

 

Besides, Allura didn’t seem to be very affected by the news. Her eyes were still flicking between the two although the curiosity in her eyes had soured into worry. She wasn’t probing him for answers, she wasn’t kid-gloving him like the abused orphan he was but hated to be, she wasn’t taunting him or forcing touches on him or anything everyone else had done when they found out.

 

His thoughts froze.

 

Allura wasn’t doing any of that even now that she knew- and neither was Lance. Lance had known for who knows how long, had maybe figured it out just by looking at him or pieced it together from Pidge’s words and his reactions to his friends attempts to shake Keith’s hand, and he hadn’t said a thing. In fact, thinking back on it, hadn’t Lance made a point to avoid touching Keith where he normally might have?

 

The memories flashed through his mind like a slideshow.

 

The day before, when the group had met up to discuss their plans and then get a little studying in before their next classes. Lance’s tight hugs for Allura and Hunk, his fist bump for Pidge, his shoulder pat for Matt, his high fives for people he didn’t even seem to know as they walked past his seat at the best table in the library. And for Keith? A simple wave.

 

Later that night, while Keith had been walking back to the Blade dorms after his last class at the Garrison. Running into Lance walking with some people Keith didn’t know, stepping back so they could pass each other comfortably rather than brushing shoulders.

 

That morning, Allura’s ridiculously expensive car pulling up to a Starbucks, Lance’s hand reaching into the back seat for Keith’s money to pay for his single black coffee, his strangely elegant fingers carefully avoiding Keith’s.

 

Yeah, there was no questioning it. Lance had known and he’d not only kept any possible judgements to himself, he’d also respected his touch-aversion to the point of inconveniencing himself rather than make Keith uncomfortable.

 

This guy was bursting with surprises.

 

Keith’s stiffness melted away, his wings relaxing the tension they held in his skin. “Lance.” He waited until Lance looked up at him. “It’s okay. I-,” he paused, taking a moment to pick his words carefully. “I don’t mind people knowing as long as they’re people who won’t use it against me. Like you.” He watched the words sink in, watched the doubt and apology morph into relief and then light confusion and then settle on a shining happiness at Keith’s last few words.

 

“Oh.” And then he watched one last emotion filter onto his face before being wiped hastily off again, one he couldn’t place but that left a pretty red flush on his cheeks even after his eyes went artificially impassive. “Good. Cooool. Cool cool cool.”

 

There was a somewhat awkward silence then in which Keith suddenly remembered Allura was there too.

 

“Uh.” His gaze flicked to Allura, her eyes tearing slowly away from Lance’s flushed face to give Keith her attention. “Could you… not mention this to anyone else?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “If the others ask then you can tell them but I… don’t really feel comfortable broadcasting it.”

 

Her eyebrows drew together in surprise, mouth dropping open a bit before a small, hesitant smile found its way there. “Of course, Keith. Although, you should know, none of us would ever bully you over this.”

 

He only hesitated a second, giving the group a quick run through. “I know,” he said. “You guys all seem like really cool people. I just… don’t get comfortable very quickly.” That was painfully true. In fact, this was the most comfortable he’d felt with other people besides Shiro in years and it was exhilarating as well as terrifying.

 

Lance nodded. “No prob, bob. We totally get it. Our lips are sealed.” He made a zipping motion over his lips before miming throwing a key over his shoulder.

 

Keith couldn’t stop the little huff of laughter, partly from the childish motion coming from a grown man, partly from the swoop of relief in his stomach.

 

He’d only known these people for three days but it was not dramatic of him to say he’d die for any one of them in a heartbeat.

 

It wasn’t until Keith was back in his dorm at the Blade compound that he realized he’d never found out what the others had meant by calling Shiro the Champion.

\--

 

Lance flipped his pen through the air again, snatching it just before it hit the table and repeating the action, every movement robotic. His eyes followed its path but his mind was on other, more important things. Not school work, obviously, since most of it was review and he’d rather die than go back over things he’d already learned. No, right now his train of thought consisted only of “I don’t mind people knowing as long as they’re people who won’t use it against me. Like you.” playing over and over and over again.

 

His brain tossed the words around, each one turning over and over just like his pen. He couldn’t stop it, couldn’t stop himself from examining each one for some hidden meaning, and he knew he was screwed. Keith pretty-boy Kogane had caught his eye from day one, had earned his respect from the get-go for helping Pidge, and now had his affection, too.

 

What had even happened during their interactions to make something like this happen?! Sure, the guy was awkward to the point of adorableness, and his weird half hoodie showed off his tight black t-shirt underneath, and he’d fit into the group so well that it was more like they’d known him for months, but was any of that really crush worthy?

 

But then the words tumbled through his brain again, the words that had basically told him Keith trusted him (and Allura, but that was beside the point) to hold his secret. He thought of his honest eyes as he’d told the group he wanted to help them catch whoever had blown up Rover, trying to protect them only minutes after meeting them.

 

Underneath his favorite blue hoodie, Lance’s wings roamed slowly across his back, shifting carefully onto his arms, the skin they decorated going itchy.

 

Lance was always a sucker for the brave ones. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that he’d be crushing on Keith so fast.

 

He wasn’t particularly worried about it. He’d had crushes before and he’d gotten over those crushes in the name of friendship before and he was sure this wouldn’t be a big deal. If he could get past a slight crush on Hunk and a slightly-more-than-slight crush on Allura then he could get past this sudden crush on pretty-boy Keith. No problem.

 

Hunk’s low groan snapped him out of his thoughts. “Oh c’mon, man!”

 

“What’s up, Hunk?” He asked, spinning his chair towards him, more than happy to have a distraction.

 

Hunk waved his hand vaguely towards his desk, half of which was covered in warped pieces of scorched metal and a few lumps of melted plastic. “This thing is giving me all kinds of mixed messages! It’s- it’s like- like it blew up big time? But then other pieces make it seem like all it did was overheat a little? And you said no one got hurt and the explosion site wasn’t that messed up but these three pieces I’m pretty sure used to be parts of Rover’s camera are so warped, man, like, they had to have been exposed to heat around 3,000 degrees to get that level of force!”

 

This was a little out of Lance’s field of knowledge (okay, a lot out of his field of knowledge) but he could tell that his buddy was gonna need someone to rant to. “Okay,” he said slowly, thinking. “So, that means… uhh… is there a pattern?”

 

Hunk’s eyes flashed to his, widening. “Wait, what do you mean?”

 

He tapped his pen against his chin, leaning against his desk. “Well, you said some pieces look a little overheated but others look really messed up. Is there a pattern to that? Like, only the pieces in a specific part of Rover got exploded but the other areas were fine?”

 

Hunk’s eyebrows rose up, his head nodding. “Okay… yeah, yeah I can work with that! I’ll check that out, thanks Lance!”

 

He nodded back. “No problem, man.” He watched Hunk hunch back over his desk, moving pieces around, picking them up and putting them back, examining a few more closely. It wasn’t often he was able to de-stress his best bud so quickly and, don’t get him wrong, it was definitely a good thing! Just, that also meant he no longer had a distraction.

 

Luckily, he had an idea. Opening the top drawer of his desk, he slipped his hand into the very back, finding the little pack of picks he kept just for this.

\--

 

Picking the lock of the Blade’s compound was easy at this point, he’d done it so many times last year. He liked to sneak in extra practice after hours and, while there were usually a good amount of instructors still around most nights, he’d found that most of them didn’t actually mind him being there as long as it was for practice.

 

He said a quick ‘hi’ to Axca as he walked past the blades classroom. She liked to practice her knife throwing after hours too, although she got an in since her cousin worked there. He suspected she had some problems to work through but she tended to stay out of everyone’s way so he really didn’t know much about her.

 

His room was empty, as always. The guns here were awesome. Instead of bullets, for obvious safety reasons, they shot some sort of energy that the targets reacted to. Each one handled exactly like the real thing. The sniper rifles even had options to activate wind resistance so you could practice for real life settings! The guns training deck was one of his favorite places to go when he needed a distraction.

 

The targets were already out since Professor Thace didn’t see a point in packing them up just to put them out again in the morning, but he wasn’t quite ready yet. He needed a little push, partly to challenge himself but mostly because he liked knowing how damn good he was at shooting.

 

The parkour practice blocks weren’t hard to get set up in his room since, conveniently, his training deck shared a closet with the parkour training deck. All he had to do was drag each one into place, arranging them into a vague rooftop cityscape with the targets perched on different “roofs” around him, a couple scattered on the ground for a little variety.

 

Now, his hands hovered over the gun wall, fingers and wings fluttering as he went over his choices. He hesitated over the shotguns but passed them up, their lack of clean precision never sitting well with him. The revolver was a safe choice, but he wanted speed today, and reloading every six shots was a pain. There- the Glock 17. Accurate, seventeen shots, excellent recoil. He took down the two they had, strapping them to his thighs with expert fingers once he was sure they were loaded.

 

His eyes wandered over the choices again. The Glock was a good pick but he liked having some variety in his practice.  _ Besides _ , he thought as his eyes caught on the M24,  _ I haven’t used a sniper rifle in too long.  _ Its heft was comforting in his hands, the weight of it even better once he got it magnetized to his back with the Blades special harness. It made him feel like a badass.

 

He wandered over to the control panel on the wall, fingers zipping over buttons to activate the timer. Behind him, high up on the wall, a big flashing 00:00:00 appeared, ready to start at the first shot of a gun. He did a quick stretch, feeling the pull of his muscles, making sure he was ready for the strain.

 

Then, with a smirk, he pulled a Glock-

 

-And began.

 

The first two were easy, close by and in plain sight. He took them out with two shots simultaneously, double wielding the two Glocks. The timer started at the bang. He sprinted forward, pressing himself to the makeshift wall like he was in a real war zone.

 

First step: prioritize and strategize. Long distance shooters were the biggest danger, the first he needed to take care of or risk being sniped the second he paused in movement or got too predictable. Then the roof patrol who had a much broader range of vision than the ground targets who had to check their corners. The problem was the balance. Roof targets could take him out in a second if they made his position while he was taking care of the snipers but the situation was the same the other way around.

 

It hardly mattered when he was just shooting targets, especially stationary ones, the best he could do without the administrator log in, but he liked to be prepared anyways.

 

Strategy hashed out, he turned a corner. Peeking around the next side, he spotted his next target. One shot, bullseye, move on.

 

Bang.

 

Bang bang.

 

Bang.

 

Just enough ground targets down to clear a small area, he scrambled up one of the blocks, lifting himself up onto the “roof”. His Glock 17 made quick work of the closest targets, one after the other with a practiced eye only his professor could outmatch until he had an area free to take out the snipers on the tallest blocks.

 

He swung his M24 around, savoring that satisfying click of the magnets releasing. Settling onto a knee, he tilted his head, looking through the scope. He found his targets, picked the one farthest left, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. He calmed his heartbeat, gave himself three seconds before the “snipers” spotted him, too.

 

Inhale. Slow exhale. And-

 

Bang.

 

Bang.

 

Bang.

 

Each one taken care of, Lance stood again, running for the edge of the block while lifting the M24 over him to his back. He lifted up at the very edge, jumping the gap between blocks, keeping his feet light and silent on the landing. The rifle magnetized automatically to his harness.

 

The next section of blocks held more targets. One by one, his Glocks took care of each of them, sometimes two at a time when he could handle it without sacrificing accuracy. Each shot was perfect, or, at least, as close as he could get to it. Once the rooftop targets were gone he dropped back to the ground, almost completely silent thanks to thirteen year old him’s obsession with ninja skills.

 

The last few ground targets were easy with no one to watch out for above him. He fired off shots easily and, rounding a corner, he did it again, shifting the tiniest bit at the last second when he saw the last one was slightly off center of the aisle he’d created.

 

The timer above him flashed, a sharp double beep informing him the round was over, each target hit. He glanced up at the screen.

 

00:47:29

2837/3000

 

He grinned. Not bad. The time wasn’t his fastest but the score was thirty points higher than his previous best and that counted as a win to him.

 

Another few rounds with a few different guns and Lance was finally tired enough to try sleeping without getting stuck on Keith and his stupid words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My layout was weird, I know, and Lance has known Keith for like three days and he's already crushing but that was always how I imagined it went down at the Garrison so... that happened I guess. BTW, the timer at the end is in minutes, seconds, and milliseconds.  
> How do you like those little references to Keith's trauma, the little mentions of "Him" I've got going? I'm mostly using this fic as a way to practice writing for original stuff I'd like to do someday so feedback would be cooooool!  
> Oh, also, copy/pasting from Google docs to here is a pain. Anything in italics gets left out so if there are words missing then please let me know so I can fix it. I hate mistakes like that in my work and I cannot let them live.
> 
> Also!! I almost forgot to tell you!! The part where Keith stared at Lance laughing and was a gay disaster- that part was from my life experiences. That happened to me. This woman from the apartment next to mine knocked on my door for something and she smiled at me and Idk man but I blanked completely. She asked me something and I just stared at her, blushing madly, until I finally opened my mouth- and out came nothing but gibberish. I was mortified. I craved death. I'm 20. I live with my parents. I'm a nanny. And the sight of a pretty smile has my brain falling out and all available blood rushing to my face.  
> I'm so glad we moved and I never have to face her again.


End file.
